Giving horses away :(

The few 'happy ending' stories do not represent the larger picture IMO. Some of these horses appear to be late teens, early twenties, the youngest are 10. They are, all but one, unbroken, not all even halter broken. There are articles all over the equine press and other places, describing the dire situation of abandoned horses, due to the appaling weather and the economic situation. These NF's will just swell the numbers of ponies at the end of the sales, going through in groups to try and make a tenner. If not them being there, they will take the space another, younger horse could have in a home that is prepared to provide feed and care. I am also assuming that they have been kept as a herd for the majority of their lives, so to my mind breaking up that herd is verging on cruelty.
 
The_angel_littlelegs said:
Not really all about Romeo. Let's say I'm a **** who has no morals about animal welfare. If I buy a horse for meat value plus 10%, let alone 10x meat value, while I might be cruel, its not in my financial interest to do anything that reduces the horse to meat value alone, & if I starve it too much its meat value drops. If I've got it free though, there's no financial incentive to do anything at all for the animals welfare. Infact, just the financial incentive to profit from its meat value. A small minority may well pay a decent sum & still be extremely cruel, but ime the odds are the opposite to when the horse is free. And I think if the horse is worth more than meat money, selling for that, unless you are giving away because you know & like the potential new owner, prevents people taking them for the wrong reasons.
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You do have a point about the meat value littlelegs but I do feel that those of us who are competely against the idea of giving a horse away would be better spending their energy on the "people" who will take advantage of a free horse as a way to gain afew extra pounds rather then those of us who are just trying to find a kind loving home for a low end value animal who has of course got as much right to life as the most expensive ones.
 
I have a very well bred arabian mare that I paid a lot of money for.
I also have a TB ex racer that I paid a minimal amount for (small donation to a charity)

Both horses are looked after just the same - both spoilt cows with a wardrobe bigger than mine. I could have paid a lot for another horse but to me, giving another horse a chance of a new life is worth its weight in gold :D there will always be someone out there with more money than you in the show ring that has a bigger better horse ... but with ex racers that feeling you get when they do something 'right for the first time' is something else altogether :o
 
I gave away my first pony, he lived out his days teaching a couple of children how to ride and care for a horse.

I sold a young horse for a relatively substantial amount of money, he was starved and neglected (I am now in contact with his current owners who provided me with the info and photos of the time in between - thankfully they now treat him like a king). I'm afraid it's swings and roundabouts.

You get blasted for selling a horse. You get blasted for giving away a horse for free. You get blasted for sending a horse to the slaughterhouse. At the end of the day, it's the person's choice what they do with the horse, whether you agree with it or not. You don't have to do it yourself.
 
I don't have a problem with slaughter either. I do have a problem though with a horse doing the rounds of the sales first, & if its got issues (which except for youngsters most freebies will) there's little chance of a caring experienced home, before eventually going for slaughter, & no guarantee slaughter will be in the uk. Far kinder to cut out the middle man & just pts at home.
 
Depends who you give it too.....

I sold a pony for a tiny amount to a so called friend and she sold him

Hard to trust people.....

However I have had a horse free to a good home (she was going to be shot) and she had the best care...... I did sell her on for £350 (which no where near covered her vets bills dentist farrier etc.......) when she was right to a so called home for life but within a month they sold her as a hunter for £1500!!!! But what can you do once they arent yours anymore :(

We have bought a few welfare cases and then got them right then 'sold' them on for only what it cost in vets/dentist/physio fees etc to get them right but never again as you get labled for not keeping them.....

Your dammed if you do and dammed if you dont. :mad:

I dont bother now whats the point :(

I keep wondering about putting on a before and after thread to show how far these scraggy messes can come in few months after the right care and feed but not sure where it would go....:confused:
 
joeanne said:
Because if you don't pay for it, you are less likely to care for it properly. And if you cannot AFFORD to buy something, the chances are you cannot keep it adequately.
Whilst occasionally the whole thing works, more often than not it doesn't and the horse suffers for it.
As has been said many a time, better a dead horse than a suffering one.
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This is rubbish. If I wanted to get a new riding horse it would have to be a free one. That is because I chose to retire my two horses rather than PTS. They live in the lap of luxury. Unexpectantly I have been able to bring back into light work one of my horses that has defied the vets and come sound after three years 'retired'. But I will not be able to jump her or do the level of dressage she was trained up to before her accident. So if I want another riding horse I do not have the capital to buy it, but it would have a luxury 5 star home for life.
 
Most of the ponies are registered purebred Exmoor ponies so trying to find suitable homes for them should be the first course of action. However. It sounds like they are either breeding stock as most are unhandled. Exmoors can be tricky ponies at the best of times and although I think they're lovely little things they are often not suitable for children and the market for adults looking to buy older unbroken ponies is probably fairly slim. The advert does say that the ponies will be euthed if homes aren't found so to me it doesn't sound like the couple have their heads buried in the sand, they just want to give their ponies a chance at life before signing their death warrants. Nothing wrong with that so long as new homes are vetted.
 
Springy said:
Depends who you give it too.....

I sold a pony for a tiny amount to a so called friend and she sold him

Hard to trust people.....

However I have had a horse free to a good home (she was going to be shot) and she had the best care...... I did sell her on for £350 (which no where near covered her vets bills dentist farrier etc.......) when she was right to a so called home for life but within a month they sold her as a hunter for £1500!!!! But what can you do once they arent yours anymore :(

We have bought a few welfare cases and then got them right then 'sold' them on for only what it cost in vets/dentist/physio fees etc to get them right but never again as you get labled for not keeping them.....

Your dammed if you do and dammed if you dont. :mad:

I dont bother now whats the point :(

I keep wondering about putting on a before and after thread to show how far these scraggy messes can come in few months after the right care and feed but not sure where it would go....:confused:
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People like this who take "worthless" horses and train them/feed up/sort out minor issues ect then rehome them (sell) to good homes should get support and a pat on the back for "saving" that horse from a miserable cycle of markets and sales prob ending in the slaughter house!
Well done springy, every life is one worth saving :)
Would be interesting to watch that thread if you start it... you have my support x
 
s4sugar said:
These are a conservation herd that could be moved to another location to continue that work. I'm surprised the National Trust or English Heritage haven't somewhere for them.

Giving teen-aged, unhandled Exmoors to many people who would have them as they are free could lead to disaster.

Yes better that they be humanely slaughtered than dragged around the markets first or adopted by people who's only plan is to get meat money.
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My thoughts entirely too, some of these ponies are not good enough to be bred from either (or should not be if on section X), so most reputable breeders will not give them house room, not withstanding that their ages are against them.

The NT has also been downsizing pony herds now that their programmes have already come to fruition, sometimes preferring to let cattle herds graze as these CAN be despatched much more easily at the end of the year.
 
all about Romeo said:
People like this who take "worthless" horses and train them/feed up/sort out minor issues ect then rehome them (sell) to good homes should get support and a pat on the back for "saving" that horse from a miserable cycle of markets and sales prob ending in the slaughter house!
Well done springy, every life is one worth saving :)
Would be interesting to watch that thread if you start it... you have my support x
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Thanks :D where would I put the thread? :confused:

The price they are sold for is nowhere near what is actually costs to get them the basic care ie farrier dentist physio injections wormed never mind tack and rugs etc Not counting livery costs too......

They were alll sweeties but deffo no more..... I cant handle the bitching and people say you do it for profit... lol yeah right end up hundereds and thousands out of pocket per horse.....

We have 1 youngster and hubbys horse who is currently out on loan and other than MAYBE a kids pony I wouldnt have anymore (unless I won the lottery :) )
 
Springy said:
Thanks :D where would I put the thread? :confused:

The price they are sold for is nowhere near what is actually costs to get them the basic care ie farrier dentist physio injections wormed never mind tack and rugs etc Not counting livery costs too......

They were alll sweeties but deffo no more..... I cant handle the bitching and people say you do it for profit... lol yeah right end up hundereds and thousands out of pocket per horse.....

We have 1 youngster and hubbys horse who is currently out on loan and other than MAYBE a kids pony I wouldnt have anymore (unless I won the lottery :) )
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Just start it in the news forum?

I know what you mean... iv done the same with several horses/ponies myself over the years, including 2 ponies from the meat man both went on to ponyclub homes after a couple of years rehabilitation and training.

There are obviously some that are free for a reason! but thats were experiance comes in!
 
I would never advertise a horse as free to a good home, there are far too many pitfalls and dishonest buyers for my liking. However, my friend did give away a cracking pony with tack to a home that was found through word of mouth, and I knew the new owner from my teaching days, it is good to see him out and about now.

My 19 yr old will be pts rather than rehomed if things went t*ts up. I've seen too many sorry sights at the sales to ever risk that outcome for an older pony. Once ownership is out of your hands you have no say in what happens.

Funnily enough when I had kittens to rehome last year, the vet said to make sure to ask for money for them to help to weed out less desirable buyers coming along. It's no different for horses I would think.
 
I got given a freebie. And then another freebie. 1st freebie got so dangerous towards the 2nd freebie that one had to go. We were told 2nd freebie was 17ish and couldn't be ridden. Freebie 1 was 8 and was ridden. We decided to sell freebie 1 for a tiny amount that covered the extra rugs and tack she was going away with. Freebie ones only vices were not respecting fencing, sometimes being rude and being bad to catch. We got her out of the catching habbit, taught her some manners and ensured the new owners had good fencing. Freebie 1 is now very very happy.

Freebie 2 it turns out is more in the region of 10. Vets given us the go-ahead to break her in. Will be keeping her for my nephew but if someone wants her once she is 'finished' I'd sell her on if they were the right people.

Both freebies have had nice rugs, tack and feed. Neither owners knew me.

However both owners inspected our stables etc and picked our brains before handing over the ponies. As long as some common sense is used - where's the problem!?
Just because you haven't paid doesn't mean you are going to abuse it!!!! Abusers will abuse whether they've paid for an animal or not.
 
I don't think anyone's saying all freebies are treated badly or are hopeless cases. I've had horses bought for way below meat value, just to make ownership legal, & no of others first hand who have had lovely caring homes. Of course genuine people take free horses too. But they are outweighed by the times I've seen it go wrong, & I just believe its too big a gamble. Daughters current pony was £10, due to not having £1 in change. Her dam when in foal with her was given away free. I bought pony as a yearling through sympathy, dam long dead. It's easy for me to think of what a happy secure little life pony now has, & say 'if the dam had been pts our beloved pony wouldn't be here'. But if I take my emotions & attachment to pony out of it, I can't really justify her dams miserable end, & her own start just for the chance that I or anyone else genuine would take her on. Because until I did, nobody else, including low end dealers was interested. Yes, she (& we) got lucky & I can't imagine not having her, but its a big chance to take.
 
I wonder when people will realise that the number of respnsible homes for horses and ponies is finite and currently shrinking. There are horses being abandoned all over the place, horrendous welfare issues, a quick and painless death is absolutely not the worst fate for an equine.
 
Can't quote as I'm on my phone!! -

"YorksG
I wonder when people will realise that the number of respnsible homes for horses and ponies is finite and currently shrinking. There are horses being abandoned all over the place, horrendous welfare issues, a quick and painless death is absolutely not the worst fate for an equine."

Whilst I absolutely agree with PTS in circumstances such as the ones listed, if someone wants to take on a horse or pony, they themselves should be able to decide whether they take on a free one or one worth 10k.

I couldn't afford to buy a companion at the time and the owner didn't have the time/money for her. It worked out perfectly for us both.

Although I do think its sad many people are having to let horses and ponies go for pittance - but this is overbreedings fault! Not the fault of people rehoming unwanted ponies.

We need to slash down on breeding.
 
I just think its ridiculous, the number of people who would just shoot the lot of them. Look at it this way, maybe one in ten of them might be badly treated. Why should that mean that the other nine should be shot? Look at what happens in the wild, is it better to shoot a herd of zebra than one get slowly killed by the hyenas? If you were given the choice of certain death now or a one in ten chance of dying slowly and painfully from some disease or finding yourself homeless and destitute, you'd choose death would you? I know horses and zebras don't know futures like humans do, but they are alive and can certainly enjoy life. Personally, I think it is a shame to kill perfectly young and healthy animals en masse, just because the odd one of them will be badly treated. Okay, if they are old or lame or sick, that's different.
 
all about Romeo said:
Just start it in the news forum?

I know what you mean... iv done the same with several horses/ponies myself over the years, including 2 ponies from the meat man both went on to ponyclub homes after a couple of years rehabilitation and training.

There are obviously some that are free for a reason! but thats were experiance comes in!
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started one :)
 
Wagtail said:
I just think its ridiculous, the number of people who would just shoot the lot of them. Look at it this way, maybe one in ten of them might be badly treated. Why should that mean that the other nine should be shot? Look at what happens in the wild, is it better to shoot a herd of zebra than one get slowly killed by the hyenas? If you were given the choice of certain death now or a one in ten chance of dying slowly and painfully from some disease or finding yourself homeless and destitute, you'd choose death would you? I know horses and zebras don't know futures like humans do, but they are alive and can certainly enjoy life. Personally, I think it is a shame to kill perfectly young and healthy animals en masse, just because the odd one of them will be badly treated. Okay, if they are old or lame or sick, that's different.
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If I believed that I would be seperated from all the beings I had ever known, was to have a lifestyle change from ferral to confined to a much smaller space and to possibly suffer from hunger and disease, I may well choose death. However that is irrelevant as horses (as far as we know) do not think in that way.
The animals in the OP are not young, are unhandled and IMO not looking at a good outcome, if homes can be found for them.
 
Irishbabygirl said:
I'm sure there would be more of an outcry if 25 ponies were pts without even trying to find homes for them!
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Ditto this. I do not believe in any way whatsoever that an individual's financial situation hjas any bearing on their morality or ability to care for a horse. 99% of applicants have the right intentions, a kind heart and a perfectly normal and decent home, and can afford the expenses just not the initial thousands of pounds to buy the horse in the first place.
 
From personal experience I'd say the odds of a bad home are more than 1 in 10 for freebies/ worthless horses, if you take those given to friends for free out of it. I also agree lots of people can afford to keep a horse without necessarily having a vast sum to buy outright, but let's face it, meat value plus say £100 is rarely more expensive than a month or two's keep. So I just think unless the home is already known, meat value plus £100 or even £50 would put off the unscrupulous quite a bit.
 
Have to agree with Moppett. There are 28 ponies on that list. That's a sizeable herd - or stud. It sounds as though the conservation business means that most are only halterbroken. I see some are quite old (2 of 20+). What were they thinking letting a herd get to that size? If the ponies are of quality they may be snapped up, but somehow I doubt it!

Oh for some licensing of breeders. My veterinary acquaintances would love to see it............ here's wishing luck to these poinies. They are going to need it.
 
And who is to say those who buy expensive horses won't fall on hard times and those horses ed up being neglected? I don't think how much money you have has anything to do with whether you will be a cruel owner or not. I have known plenty of people with vast amounts of money be cruel to their animals. :(
 
I'm a little confused, post says Cornwall area but contact exmoor pony club. Is there an area of exmoor called Cornwall or are these horses in Cornwall?
 
Littlelegs said:
From personal experience I'd say the odds of a bad home are more than 1 in 10 for freebies/ worthless horses, if you take those given to friends for free out of it. I also agree lots of people can afford to keep a horse without necessarily having a vast sum to buy outright, but let's face it, meat value plus say £100 is rarely more expensive than a month or two's keep. So I just think unless the home is already known, meat value plus £100 or even £50 would put off the unscrupulous quite a bit.
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But we are talking about the case in the OP. Why are people assuming these people won't carefully vet homes? They are well prepared to PTS if they can't find some of them good homes. Who are we to try to say what they should do with their own ponies? IMO it is just as bad to critisise these people as to critisise people who decide to PTS. So long as they vet the homes, why shouldn't they be allowed to try to preserve the life of their ponies? :confused:
 
I don't have a problem with it but the giver must be aware of the attention a 'free to good home' ad is going to attract, and homes must be vetted properly.

I don't think money is a reflection of the care you intend to give a horse. People who don't understand the costs of keeping horses shouldn't be given OR sold a horse!

I have to admit if I was looking for a companion or similar I would rather pay a very small amount than a big one, who wouldn't really? There are plenty around.

If it was a riding horse I would be suspicious and less likely to contact them than for a horse advertised for a sensible amount of money. They could always tell me they don't want my money at the last minute I guess...

Someone offered me an 18yo lead rein pony through a friend but as I would only have it as a companion mostly, I said they would be better off selling it for a nominal fee as it really sounded like a nice little kids pony with lots left to give and I didn't see why they should be pushed to give it away free.
 
Horse* said:
I'm a little confused, post says Cornwall area but contact exmoor pony club. Is there an area of exmoor called Cornwall or are these horses in Cornwall?
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From what I can gather the owners have a 180 acre farm on Bodmin Moor, so the ponies live in Cornwall and the Exmoor Pony Society members are all helping to try to find the right homes for them. EPS seem to be coordinating the dispersal of this herd and offering transport and help along the way to secure good homes for them. It sounds responsible rehoming to me.
 
I know a guy works on a racing yard who gives his retired racers away free to good home. Better that than the nearest abbatoir.

On the other hand i also know a lady who gave a bad tempered unbroken shet away free to a forever home and 24hrs later i bought said pony from a girl who claimed to have saved her feom the meat man. Only by pure chance did we find out. That dealer was all over h&h last summer for doing the same to others too. Not everyones a bad egg tho.
 
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